Everything faces an end. And technology is no exception.
Indeed, technology systems must be retired when they become outdated, pushed off stage as newer solutions take the forefront. It’s only natural.
Earlier this year, Avaya announced that it was discontinuing contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS) deployments under 200 seats, leaving thousands of small and mid-sized organizations uncertain about supporting customer engagement operations.
But what’s different about the Avaya discontinuation—and other discontinuations recently of its scale—is the quickening pace with which technologies are being retired, and the timeframes between when these retirements are announced and non-support occurs.
Contact centers are increasingly facing end-of-life (EoL) technologies, which means business leaders are now being pushed to rapidly develop comprehensive transition strategies that prioritize operational continuity while embracing modern capabilities.
Timing is Key
The challenge for contact centers is that time is of the essence when it comes to sunsetting technologies. The pivotal moves needed to secure replacement technologies take time to evaluate the full marketplace of options for the right new solution(s).
Choosing too hastily could lead to unnecessary sunk costs in new tech that doesn’t meet the needs of the business. A lot of risk is involved, so business leaders are justified in feeling apprehensive and anxious.
Selecting the wrong technology could lead an organization not just down the wrong path - it could lead an organization away from modernization and innovation - and competitiveness altogether.
When products, services, and suppliers reach EoL and disappear, or if new solutions replace existing ones, contact centers that depend on these solutions must prepare for the transitions without losing the ability to function.
This means corralling all stakeholders together as soon as possible following the initial EoL announcement so that a plan can form quickly. Those organizations that can get the conversations started early often have the most competitive results at the end of adoption.
Tips for Transition
Whether your organization is embracing the cloud, an AI solution, or another new technology, there are several steps you can take to ensure their transition between technologies goes as planned with minimal disruption to daily operations.
- Evaluate your current systems’ needs and security/compliance requirements.
- Form a migration team.
- Align on future goals and choose the right platform(s).
- Design the transition and model your new workflows.
- Train your staff for the new solution(s).
- Perform the transition and test its effectiveness.
- Monitor performance after the transition to ensure it’s going as planned.
These steps, although they might seem rudimentary, are essential to harnessing your new technology solution and sunsetting your outdated solutions.
The Role MSPs Can Play
Getting a secondary, unbiased opinion could help during periods of uncertainty with these transitions. Engaging with a managed service provider (MSP) for your migration team to strategize the selection process can be helpful not just with contact center solutions like CCaaS, but in the entire realm of IT services.
From everything that includes cloud to AI to unified communications, a good MSP should have access to a deep bench of experts on staff to solve your unique business needs. They should also have access to exclusive pricing from some of the top technology providers.
...time is of the essence when it comes to sunsetting technologies. The pivotal moves needed to secure replacement technologies take time to evaluate the full marketplace of options...
But transitioning between technologies—no matter how well-honed your team’s expertise is, or how much an MSP boasts as being skillful—is a challenging task. There are often security risks, storage needs, and connectivity intricacies involved that need to be anticipated and handled to keep operational disruptions at a minimum.
This could point to the need for an MSP that has a special emphasis on transitioning contact center solutions that will help contact center leaders confidently and quickly shift away from systems that will soon lose support. Analyst firms like Gartner could be a good starting point for MSP evaluations.
Whatever the case, transforming your contact center requires a helping hand to ensure nothing is overlooked.
When Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Happen
When suppliers merge, acquire, or are acquired, or when the same occurs with the contact center’s parent company (M&A), and should this result in technology changes it could impact the center’s ability to engage with customers.
So, if the M&A appears that it will affect the contact center, align quickly. Start with a gap analysis between current systems and the acquirer’s or acquiree’s platform. Engage a neutral MSP to assess whether adopting the new stack or moving to a third-party solution is smarter, long-term.
The goal is to protect the CX while minimizing downtime and risk. Clear communication, early stakeholder involvement, and a phased integration or migration plan are critical in navigating change with confidence.
Keeping the Future at the Forefront
It’s crucial during technology and vendor changes that business leaders keep their long-term vision and mission top of mind. The process of transitioning between technologies smoothly, cost effectively, and efficiently is no easy feat. Planning is everything.
For example, AI is a growing focus for many organizations seeking to leverage competitive solutions to gain an edge in their marketplace. But having the right solution and usage of AI is essential to retaining existing customers while growing that customer base into the future.
To evaluate whether an AI solution is right for your organization, ask yourself questions that emphasize the core goals of the AI, how it will be implemented, and how its success will be measured (and how often). This will help to prepare your organization for these new approaches and protocols.
In the end, contact centers must emphasize the customer experience (CX) above all else, while also making it easier for your organization to serve customers quickly and effectively. AI can help. The cloud can help.
But because there are so many other solutions out there as well, an MSP can help your organization vet which will be best for your bottom line. These partners can help prevent unnecessary costs and resource usage while paving the way for sustained success, filling gaps and handling any challenges, through your transition and beyond.